Neues Licht offers both this Ufo pendant light and the Scintilla chandelier designed by Simon Bruenner. The Ufo is a pendant lamp using glass fiber optic strantds to illunimate  to the edges where the the Ufo radiates, emphasizing the depth of the surrounding space. Fiber optic lighting is more energy efficient than conventional.

Liquid Light uses a combination of industrial built fixture look with energy efficient led bulbs and art glass to achieve a delicate aesthetic and function. Reminding us of our precious resources of water and energy, these lights designed by  Tanya Clark of Ottawa Canada, can help contribute to your more delicate carbon footprint inside your home. Clarke is the daughter of Tony Clarke author and environmental activist -these light fixtures are her current expression of environmental stewardship.

This 1973 Porsche 911T was converted to electric using 12 V batteries by Electro Automotive. Efficient for running errands locally.

If you would like to convert your own Porsche to electric check out Cool Green Car, a Florida company that specializes on these types of conversions.

The Latro lamp is another product out of Netherlands design school Eindhoven from industrial designer Mike Thompson. Using living algae, Thompson is utilizing the technology developed by scientists from Yonsei University & Stanford University to power his lamp. A small electric current is drawn from chloroplasts of algal cells during its photosynthesis.

The Latro requires only sunlight, carbon dioxide and water to provide  its glow. When placed in the sun, the lamp stores its excess energy  in in its own battery for later use.

via Design Boom

Recently, the Boulder Historic Society organized a ‘Landmarks of the Future’ tour.  The most compelling home on the tour from my standpoint was the Logan-Wiggins home. A LEED platinum certified home created by Boulderites Jim Logan and his wife.

The energy saving features of the 2,400 sf home include a geothermal heat system, a ground source heat pump, R-13 windows, super insulated walls and ceilings and a powerful 10KW photovoltaic system on the roof that meters far more electricity back to the grid than it draws. The home stands in the same small footprint as the 1950 structure it completely replaced. The one story structure shows a modern fascade to the street, inside it feels like a box of light. This structure is all about daylighting.

Logan included a gray water system, dometic water tubing, mirror glazing with R-11, clerestory windows, daylighting and passive solar heat gain. Most of the lighting has led bulbs,  local beetle kill lodgepole pine wood siding and recycled brick from demolished Denver building were used during construction. The framing uses engineered 8″ studs filled with foam insulation, all framing members at 24″ oc which uses 20% less framing overall. In the kitchen, the owners used Eco Top Counters, recycled paper bonded with bamboo fiber and finished with wax coating. The foundation walls are insulated concrete forms (ICF’s) sandwiching the concrete foundation wall between two layers of foam to provide high insulation. Ground source heat pump, geothermal bore holes 100′ deep in driveway the geothermal is 4x more efficient than conventional electric heat and also preheats the domestic hot water heat recovery ventilator that exchanges energy from exhaust air to fresh supply air. A 10kWh Photovoltaic System on their garage provides electricity to house, while the excess production is sent to the grid.

Boulder-based Namaste Solar began the installation in late August 2009. The New Belgium packaging hall now holds 870 panels, and engineers estimate it can power the bottle line for up to eight hours on a sunny day.
New Belgium became the country’s first brewery to subscribe to 100 percent wind powered electricity in 1998 and can produce up to 15 percent of its electrical needs by capturing methane from its process water treatment plant to fire a co-generation engine which produces heat and electricity on-site.

The planned neighborhood will contain 12 LEED Platinum-certified homes powered completely by solar energy and heated with geothermal energy. The homes, which will be located close to local shops, schools, and offices, will also feature recycled countertops, bamboo cabinets and non-toxic paints. Spring Leaf Boulder will wrap around a park that acts as both a community gathering space and a place to soak up storm water.

Spring Leaf’s developers expect that the townhouses and single-family homes will cost approximately $200 per square foot, there is currently one model home open to tour. There is a geothermal heat pump, hepa filtration system and other green features and materials on view. The home exceeds LEED silver standards.

The centennial state aims to be the most environmentally friendly in the nation, with Gov. Bill Ritter getting accolades as America’s “Greenest Governor.”US Roadster owners get a $7,500 federal tax credit, and Colorado’s progressive public policy offers additional incentives for residents who buy this year. Coloradans get more benefits if they replace their gas guzzler with an all-electric, zero-emission Roadster – the only car that’s faster than a Porsche 911 and twice as energy efficient as a Toyota Prius.

To date, Tesla has delivered nearly 900 cars, and many owners in Northern climates drive them all winter long. Tesla performed cold-weather testing on a frozen lake in Arvidsjaur, Sweden. Scandinavia is a leading European sales market, and Canadian deliveries start later this year. Electric seat warmers and heating vents thaw drivers on frigid nights. The Roadster can also be fitted with snow tires and chains, and customers may select from two hard-top roof options. In addition to being four-season friendly, the Roadster consumes no gasoline whatsoever and therefore never requires a time-consuming detour to the pump. Owners simply charge the Roadster overnight from a conventional 120- or 240-volt outlet, and every single morning the car is fully charged – roughly 240 miles of driving. With an EPA-estimated range of 244 miles per charge, it costs less than $5 to refuel.

Tesla’s goal is to produce increasingly affordable cars to mainstream buyers – relentlessly driving down the cost of EVs. San Carlos, Calif.-based Tesla sells cars online and has delivered nearly 900 Roadsters to customers in North America and Europe. In addition to Boulder, Colorado, Tesla has showrooms in California’s Silicon Valley and Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, London and Munich.

For the average household, 10% per year energy savings is only about 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kwh) of energy/year. Here’s how doable that is:

Many families could achieve the first 1,000 kwh/year of savings by washing clothes in cold water (770 kwh/yr); placing several major electronics, such as video and stereo systems, on a surge protector that can be switched off (47kwh/year); and brushing of their refrigerator’s condenser coils twice a year (392 kwh/year).

Many families could get another 1,000 kwh/year reduction by replacing half of their incandescent lighting with compact fluorescents (440kwh/year), letting the dishes in the dishwasher air dry (404kwh/year), and enabling the “sleep” function on their computer and printer to go on after five minutes of non-use (259kwh/year).

22 steps you can take –(These energy savings assume an average US home, which uses about 11,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year and 19,000 cubic feet of natural gas per year.)

1. Turn off lights you’re not using – (2% energy savings per year, assuming an average family’s energy use)

2. Schedule an energy audit – (Up to 50% energy savings per year)

3. Don’t heat or cool empty rooms – close off the vents to save on heating and cooling. (Varies by size of room.)

4. Give your dishwasher a rest – Skip the energy-intensive drying cycle on your dishwasher and choose the air-dry option, or open the door for zero-energy dish drying. (5% energy savings per year)

5. Shift your energy load to off-peak hours – Because power sources must produce electricity around the time of use (without capacity for long-term storage) it is our collective peak demand that triggers the building of more polluting power plants. (Varies)

6. Turn off your electronics – If you’re going to be away from your computer or other appliance for more than an hour, turn it off. (5% energy savings per year)

7. Eliminate “phantom load” – Many electronics use energy even while turned off, so your best bet is to unplug them when not in use. (5% energy savings per year)

8. Make your fridge more efficient – Keep your refrigerator’s coils clean to boost its overall power, and store jugs of water in any empty space inside, because water retains coldness better than air. (4% energy savings per year)

9. Wash clothes in cold water – Your clothes will get just as clean, on half the energy. (7% energy savings per year)

10. Give up your dryer – Hang your clothes to dry on a clothesline or indoor rack. (10% energy savings per year)

11. Plug your air leaks – Energy-efficient heating and cooling systems are wasted when you’re leaking out the cool or warm air you’re putting in. (5% energy savings per year)

12. Reduce your water use – Simple ways to save water include fixing any leaks and replacing faucets and showerheads with low-flow options. (3% energy savings per year)

13. Cut waste through windows – Properly seal window edges, cover windows with curtains to prevent heat loss, or coat windows with reflective “low-e” films that reduce heat loss while still allowing light to shine through. (10% energy savings per year)

14. Help your hot water heater – Add an insulating cover to reduce heat loss. (1% energy savings per year)

15. Install ceiling fans – Reduce your air conditioner usage with ceiling fans. Look for “Energy Star” models that use 50 percent less energy. (19% energy savings per year)

16. Get a programmable thermostat – Automate when your heating or cooling systems come on to save energy while you sleep or are away from home. (10% energy savings per year)

17. Upgrade your appliances – Look for the “Energy Star,” and you may be eligible for a tax break. (3 – 12% energy savings per year)

18. Upgrade your hot water heater – Save energy and space by upgrading to a tankless or solar hot water heater. (14% energy savings per year)

19. Green your roof – Studies have found that a green roof on a typical one-story building can result in a 25 percent reduction in summer cooling needs. (12% energy savings per year)

20. Save energy through landscaping – The US Department of Energy found that the proper placement of as few as three shady trees will save an average household between $100 and $250 in energy costs annually. (12% energy savings per year)

21. Replace your windows – Step 13 for working with the windows you have. Replacing your windows with more energy-efficient versions can save you even more. (14% energy savings per year)

22. Don’t waste energy on TV – With the switch to digital TV coming in 2009, many people are buying new, digital-ready TVs. If you must shop for a new television, look for an LCD (liquid crystal display) screen, which uses six times less energy than a plasma screen. (2% energy savings per year)

via Coop America